Saturday, January 16, 2016

I read elsewhere if the group is large enough then a third outer ring forms to prevent anyone including authorities from seeing what is happening within the center blocking and interfering with any interference.

The practice began in Cairo to harass political opponents and evolved to harass women

All I can do is shake my head and feel sorry for the ignorance this column displays.

Apparently, Ms. Rampell has forgotten her basic civics, and doesn’t realize that these calls for amendment by “right-wing Constitution thumper[s]” would employ Article V, which provides a lawful, supermajoritarian and republican process for amending the Constitution. Article V–which has been used 27 times to amend the Constitution–is evidence that the founding generation did not consider the original Constitution to be “perfect.” Indeed, the first ten amendments–the Bill of Rights–was ratified only two short years after ratification of the original Constitution.

Ms. Rampell fails to grasp that it the method of changing the Constitution–i.e., the process employed–matters to a “Constitution-thumper” because, well, the Constitution allow for amendments only via the processes set forth in Article V. To a liberal/progressive, by contrast, the method of constitutional change is irrelevant, so long as the Constitution changes in the “right way”; it’s only results, not process, that matters.

Thus. to a liberal/progressive like Ms. Rampell, it is perfectly fine for five liberal/progressive Supreme Court Justices to “amend” the Constitution with a stroke of their outcome-oriented pens. In Ms. Rampell’s eyes, using Article V’s legitimate, supermajoritarian, republican processes to effectuate constitutional change is so time-consuming and republican, it’s downright silly, and maybe even dangerous. Surely, it’s much better to just let elitist, liberal/progressive Supreme Court Justices alter the Constitution on the people’s “behalf” (unless of course they want to overrule decisions such as Roe v. Wade or roll back the Commerce Clause).

“Constitution-thumper[s]” believe in the Constitution–and this includes employing its only legal mechanism for alteration, Article V. Given the Supreme Court’s long history (since about 1937) of misconstruing the Constitution to serve liberal/progressive ends, calls to change the Constitution and restore its original vision is far from hypocrisy. It’s the height of principled constitutional conservatism. But I wouldn’t expect someone like Ms. Rampell to get that.

Farmer and local councillor John Davies, 52, described the rain as being as of biblical proportions. He said: "I think everybody in the village is starting to get fed up with it now.

"The forecast for tomorrow is finally dry weather, but to be honest that's been predicted before and hasn't materialised... I think people would much prefer some decent weather than for the village to end up in the record books.... It is grinding people down both physically and psychologically.... Our sheep are pretty hardy animals but even they are looking depressed. Their fleeces are not getting the chance to dry out because of the endless rain. And I've also had to keep my cattle indoors since October.

But while there has been no let-up in the rain, those living in Eglwswrw have at least escaped flood problems as the village stands 423ft above sea level.

We had a tornado warning here yesterday afternoon. The school held my nephews back until the weather cleared. Ultimately, there was no tornado, but my nephews were convinced there was one.

"[T]he new policy is coming out of California, which led the way in inserting campus bureaucrats into the bedroom with its "affirmative consent" policies. These policies mandate how students must engage in sexual activity – not as a passionate act but as a contractual question-and-answer session. The only way to prove one followed such a policy is to videotape the encounter, but now, California colleges are making such recordings a violation of school policy."

Due process advocates knew that one day a student would try to record an encounter to retain evidence that he obtained sober consent. We also knew that if an accuser claimed she was too drunk to consent to sex, someone would make the argument that she must have also been too drunk to consent to a recording. And that's where the new policy comes in.

In a Q&A with the University of California's daily newspaper, the Daily Bruin, Title IX officer Kathleen Salvaty said students could be expelled for recording sexual encounters without consent.

Nilsen: Now, something that’s really important to me — and my audience — is women’s health. And recently, I was shocked to learn that pads, tampons, and other menstrual products are taxed as luxury goods in over, in 40 states. And I don’t know anyone who has a period that thinks it’s a luxury, because it’s-

Obama: I think that’s fair to say. Michelle would agree with you on this.

Nilsen: Yes! Because it’s something that’s part of our everyday lives and is really crucial to our health as women. And so, I want to know, why do these items continue to be taxed?

Obama: I have to tell you, I have no idea why states would tax these as luxury items. I suspect it’s cuz men were making the laws when those taxes were passed.

“I was told by a prison source that Shakeel and two guards were subjected to torture by jail administration sometime in November,” Jamil Afridi, the brother of the jailed doctor, told Fox News in a recent interview. Jamil Afridi said he had been told about the torture on Nov. 21, when he tried to visit his brother in jail but was turned away, and in a follow-up court hearing on Nov. 22.

“His privileges have been revoked and he’s been shifted to another cell,” Jamil said. “They are strict with him, and treating him inhumanely.”

A cartoon so annoying it must be pushed behind a wall. An item of interest from within the vast American catchbasin. The cartoon inspired by a cartoon inspired by a cartoon inspired from an item on the Hill (with auto play) I read this morning then forgot about, except inspired is too lofty a word for any of this. None of it, not one bit of it is inspired. Found it again right off by search [hillary, desperation, chelsea]. The premise of the article at the Hill is; Chelsea used to be such a nice girl, Mommy's little girl that shows Hillary's softer side, now on the attack. I cannot bother searching previous Chelsea attacks to dispute or confirm their premise. The attack centering on agitating about Bernie Sanders intention to dismantle Medicare cannot be made by Hillary for being too undeniably disingenuous, too ridiculous because everyone knows Bernie would replace with single payer, so Chelsea is set off to make the notably stupid distraction for her, one that says to people watching the change in behavior is desperation more than anything real about Bernie and Medicare.

Three Syrian boys were arrested earlier this month over the attack at a leisure centre in Munich...

The ban also follows an attack by an 18-year-old refugee on a 54-year-old woman in Bornheim, where he had grabbed her by the private parts and tried to kiss her...

Bornheim currently has 300 refugees living in accommodation who have been told that the ban will be lifted when the message has been received that women need to be respected.

In the Munich attack, the three boys are alleged to have surrounded the 17-year-old girl in the pool before one of them groped her underneath her swimming costume in an offence deemed rape under local law.

When the girl's sister, 14, tried to make them stop, she too was groped by the trio of teenagers, who were all aged under 15.

The girls managed to flee and raise the alarm with the lifeguard at the swimming pool, who called police.

It comes after more than three hundred women reported being sexually assaulted by groups of mostly Arab or North African men in Cologne during New Year celebrations.

Hundreds of criminal complaints have been filed by police, with about 45 per cent involving allegations of sexual offences, and most of the suspects identified so far are foreign nationals.

The attack have been seized by right-wing groups as evidence that chancellor Angela Merkel's open door policy is a failure.

Sixty Grit said...
Mr. Lit, I just now watched the 1931 film version of Die Dreigroschenoper. Very interesting film, about which I know next to nothing. When the song known here as "Mack the Knife" is sung, a few minutes into the movie, I was struck by how the r's at the end of words were trilled. I remember you mentioned that not long ago, but I had never heard such a thing. Spanish rolled r's, Scottish (aye, laddie, my people) and how they roll their r's, but the German thing was different indeed.
I have many questions about the meaning of that story, how it represented its time and place, did the writer, and I don't mean to call him vile, really think that was an accurate representation of Victorian England. I marvel at how the songs have held up for over 80 years and how I have been listening to them for close to 60 years. Amazing stuff. But for now I'd like to know if the r affectation you were writing about is what the fellow is doing starting at 4:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUgkrlL8GkE
Oh yeah, one more thing, the subtitles frequently replace the letter "n" with an "r", which makes the coronation references very odd.

The German "r" is an untamed thing. Northern Germans prefer a guttural "r," trapped in the back of the throat. The Dutch are wholly in the gutter when it comes to 'r's. Southern Germans trill their 'r's.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

IndiaTimes: Mumbai-born Kashmea Wahi achieved 162 out of 162, which put her in the top one per cent of the country's brightest. The score also puts her in the league of scientists Albert Einstein and Steven Hawking as both are thought to have an IQ of 160.

"It's overwhelming to be compared with the likes of Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein he comparison is implausible and I believe it would take loads of achievements for anyone like myself to be able to get into the league of such legends. Anyways, I am buzzing with excitement," Kashmea said.

"We are ecstatic at Kashmea's Mensa achievement. Although we always believed she had the intellectual prowess, the acknowledgement is reassuring that she does possess the ability , the energy which if well channelised, can lead to something wonderful," her parents said.

Bearing Arms: We tried to tell open carry advocates in Texas that their tactics of open carrying long guns into restaurants, stores, and other establishments were causing problems, not winning converts. The major open carry groups in the state eventually backed off what many in the general public saw as an intimidation tactic, and a lesser version of open carry finally became law despite their antics.

In a post on TexasCHLForum.com, a popular gun rights website moderated by National Rifle Association board member Charles L. Cotton, one user reported that the new law has triggered private business owners to not only exercise their right to bar open carry on their premises, but prohibit concealed handguns as well. Any private business in Texas that wishes to bar firearms must display a strictly regulated sign — dubbed “30.07” for openly carried guns, and “30.06” for concealed firearms. Amid the controversy over open carry, this gun owner was noticing more of both varieties.

“Got an email from work telling us that not only are 30.07 signs going up over the weekend on our office building but 30.06 as well. What makes this even more frustrating is I have yet to see a single open carry,” wrote a user with the handle LTUME1978, before predicting in a subsequent comment that, at least in Houston, “Once the signs are up, they are not ever going to come down.”

There are right ways and wrong ways to make your point. Thanks to the bombardment of the general public by images like those of the slovenly yahoos pictured at the top of the page, many businesspersons in Texas don’t associate open carry with responsible citizens. As a result, many are ordering their 30.07 signs to ban open carry, and are throwing concealed carriers under the bus as well by picking up and 30.06 signs at the same time.

It remains to be seen if this is going to be a relatively isolated phenomena, or if this is the start of a wave of paired signage that will impact concealed carriers across the state.

We sincerely hope that this is just a temporary, overly cautious reaction to the new law, and that both signs soon come down as Texans discover that the open carry of a holstered handgun, like concealed carry, simply isn’t that big of a deal.

The fellow with the long brown beard and the man bun is the older man's son. The dad chokes on describing his reaction to seeing the film, and the son interjects and helps his dad unchoke by supply words "healing process" the father readily accepts by repeating them. It's touching.

I left off with the mother enraged letting loose her worst curse she can conjure for Hillary, "Horse feathers! "

C-Span ran Kerry addressing what appeared to be U.S. Army brass, the men in their chairs arms folded and eyes held rigidly forward staring ahead emptily without moving, and no noticeable breathing when the camera is on them, each in their own internal world it seemed as they're hearing but not really listening. Thinking about something more real than the situation they're in and more real than the situation being described. There is nothing substantial in what they are hearing to seize upon, but being told it's amazing, and worse, they had all just been betrayed and are being told otherwise. They understand their place as pawns, high as they are, and they know the men under their command will head off into any adventure that they're directed, and they don't like what just happened to their men at sea. They are clamping down hard on their tongues, nearly biting them off were it not for opposing force jacking their jaws so their heads might blow their eyeballs though their eye sockets like canons. Their boss is a dope, and they are his spectacle and this is the price that they pay from their own integrity. Every one of them more acute than the Gumby person telling us through them how our world is, against evidence, he with the moving modeling clay face describing his stop motion world. Kerry selling his catalog of achievements is a painful itemized litany of concrete abject failures on an international scale.

Picture it: the Star Trek shape shifter Memory Alpha but much taller wearing an impeccably tailored suit and bending over the podium shifting around his vestige features forcing sound through his face holes forming words presuming to describe an evanescent reality to men made of granite.

Kerry urges one word they must all think, "progress … progress." One word said twice, for feeble emphasis, it needs two to stand up. None of the military trained men flinched but I did. It's like a key turned in my spine and I go full on retarded my arm flails violently off to the side and hangs in the air, my head tilts opposite my tongue goes floppy as if helpless and I spray with pronounced difficulty and intense feigned sincerity, "but what's the word I should think? "

How about F words?

Encountered online and looked up for some reason. It's a small group and they're all either known, easy or fun. A few even apposite to Kerry's idea of progress.

favela: the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil.[1] In the late 18th century. Even before the first "favela" came into being, poor citizens were pushed away from downtown and forced to live in the far suburbs. However, most modern favelas appeared in the 1970s, due to rural exodus, when many people left rural areas of Brazil and moved to cities. Without finding a place to live, many people ended up in a favela

federalism: a system in which the power to govern is shared between national and provincial/state governments, creating what is often called a federation. Proponents are often called federalists.

Federalism in the United States is the evolving relationship between state governments and the federal government of the United States. American government has evolved from a system of dual federalism to one of associative federalism. In "Federalist No. 46," James Madison asserted that the states and national government "are in fact but different agents and trustees of the people, constituted with different powers." Alexander Hamilton, writing in "Federalist No. 28," suggested that both levels of government would exercise authority to the citizens' benefit: "If their [the peoples'] rights are invaded by either, they can make use of the other as the instrument of redress."

Feiler Faster Thesis: a thesis, or supported argument, in modern journalism that suggests that the increasing pace of society is matched by (and perhaps driven by) journalists' ability to report events and the public's desire for more information.

The idea is credited to Bruce Feiler and first defined by Mickey Kaus in a February 24, 2000 Kausfiles blog post and Slate online magazine article, "Faster Politics: 'Momentum' ain't what it used to be."

ferrule: (a corruption of Latin viriola "small bracelet," under the influence of ferrum "iron.") is a name for types of metal objects, generally used for fastening, joining, or reinforcement. They are often narrow circular rings of metal, or less commonly, plastic.

Most ferrules consist of a circular clamp used to hold together and attach fibers, wires or posts, generally by crimping, swaging, or otherwise deforming the ferrule to permanently tighten it onto the parts that it holds.

Stop the flow in its tracks by folding a small, absorbent cloth and taping it around the metal collar—known as the ferrule—of the brush.

Fiat justitia ruat caelum: "Let justice be done though the heavens fall." The maxim signifies the belief that justice must be realized regardless of consequences. According to the 19th-century abolitionist politician Charles Sumner, it does not come from any classical source.[1] It has also been ascribed to Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, see "Piso's justice".

fiduciary: a person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another. of or pertaining to the relation between a fiduciary and his or her principal: a fiduciary capacity; a fiduciary duty. of, based on, or in the nature of trust and confidence, as in public affairs: a fiduciary obligation of government employees. depending on public confidence for value or currency, as fiat money.

filet mignon: dainty cut

flak catcher: a slick spokesperson who can turn any criticism to the advantage of their employer

flat effect: A severe reduction in emotional expressiveness. People with depression and schizophrenia often show flat affect. A person with schizophrenia may ...

flechettes: a pointed steel projectile, with a vaned tail for stable flight. The name comes from French fléchette, "little arrow" or "dart", and sometimes retains the acute accent in English: fléchette.

flid: spaz, chemical caused birth defects An insult usually meaning spacker, thick, incapable or physically challenged. Shortened term of Thalidomide, a German-invented drug which was used ...

Floccinaucinihilipilificate: pupils at Eton, combining a number of roughly synonymous Latin stems. The word was inspired by a line in the Eton Latin Grammar that listed verbs that govern a genitive noun: "Flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis, hujus, teruncii, his verbis, aestimo, pendo, facio, peculiariter adduntur."[1] Latin flocci, from floccus, a wisp or piece of wool + nauci, from naucum, a trifle + nihili, from the Latin pronoun, nihil (“nothing”) + pili, from pilus, a hair, something insignificant (all therefore having the sense of "pettiness" or "nothing") + -fication.

flop sweat: fear of failing

Forcas: described in the Goetia in the following terms: "He is a Knight, and appeareth in the Form of a Cruel Old Man with a long Beard and a hoary Head, riding upon a pale-coloured Horse, with a Sharp Weapon in his hand. His Office is to teach the Arts of Philosophy, Astrology, Rhetoric, Logic, Cheiromancy, and Pyromancy, in all their parts, and perfectly. He hath under his Power 20 Legions of Spirits."

Chiromancy or palmistry is the divinatory art of reading the lines of the human hand. Pyromancy is divination by fire. Great age is often associated in magic with arcane wisdom. For example, the ancient god Saturn presides over difficult studies and dark secrets.

force majeure: superior force, also known as cas fortuit (French) or casus fortuitus (Latin),[1] is a common clause in contracts that essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, crime, or an event described by the legal term "act of God" (such as flooding, earthquake, or volcanic eruption), prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract.[2] However, force majeure is not intended to excuse negligence or other malfeasance of a party, as where non-performance is caused by the usual and natural consequences of external forces (for example, predicted rain stops an outdoor event), or where the intervening circumstances are specifically contemplated.

free-rider: in economics, collective bargaining, psychology, and political science, "free riders" are those who consume more than their fair share of a public resource, or shoulder less than a fair share of the costs of its production. Someone who obtains goods or services legally without paying; One who obtains benefit from a public good without paying for it directly
Freigabe die Hunde: free the dogs

freshnet: A flood resulting from heavy rain or a spring thaw. Whereas heavy rain often causes a flash flood, a spring thaw event is generally a more incremental process, depending upon local climate and topography. The term freshet is most commonly used to describe a spring thaw resulting from snow and ice melt in rivers located in the northern latitudes of North America, particularly Canada, where rivers are frozen each winter and thaw during the spring. A spring freshet can sometimes last several weeks on large river systems, resulting in significant inundation of flood plains as the snow pack melts in the river's watershed. Spring freshets associated with thaw events are sometimes accompanied by ice jams which can cause flash floods. A stream or river of fresh water which empties into the ocean, usually flowing through an estuary."Freshette", a female urination device.

frisson: a sudden, passing sensation of excitement; a shudder of emotion; thrill: The movie offers the viewer the occasional frisson of seeing a character in mortal danger.
Origin: 1770–80; French: shiver, shudder, Old French friçons (plural) < Late Latin frictiōnem, accusative of frictiō shiver (taken as derivative of frīgēre to be cold), Latin: massage, friction

frottage: The act of rubbing against the body of another person, as in a crowd, to attain sexual gratification. a. A method of making a design by placing a piece of paper on top of an object and then rubbing over it, as with a pencil or charcoal.b.A design so made.

fug: a warm, stuffy, or smoky atmosphere in a room."the cozy fug of the music halls"

fugue state: a rare psychiatric disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including the memories, personality and other identifying characteristics of individuality. The state is usually short-lived (hours to days), but can last months or longer. Dissociative fugue usually involves unplanned travel or wandering, and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity. After recovery from fugue, previous memories usually return intact, but there is complete amnesia for the fugue episode. Additionally, an episode is not characterized as a fugue if it can be related to the ingestion of psychotropic substances, to physical trauma, to a general medical condition, or to psychiatric conditions such as delirium, dementia, bipolar disorder or depression. Fugues are usually precipitated by a stressful episode, and upon recovery there may be amnesia for the original stressor (Dissociative Amnesia).

fuliguline: pertaining to sea ducks.

fumet: a rich, concentrated broth made from bones of fish, chicken, game birds, etc. boiled with wine, herbs, etc., used in sauces, for braising various foods, etc.

fundament: a. The buttocks. b. The anus.2. The natural features of a land surface unaltered by humans. 3. A foundation, as of a building. 4. An underlying theoretical basis or principle: "All neighbor states ... must revise ... their policy fundaments"

fusillade: A discharge from a number of firearms, fired simultaneously or in rapid succession. 2. A rapid outburst or barrage: a fusillade of insults. To attack with a fusillade.

furshlugginer: From the Yiddish, an old, battered piece of junk. One of several words Anglicized and popularized by the original writers of MAD Magazine. The word comes from shlogn ("to hit") with the prefix far- which often indicates the one so described is taking on the quality named.

Netphen (Germany). Female bathers were apparently sexually harassed in a public pool in Netphen on Friday. According to the director of the pool (and confirmed by the Siegerland Courier), a group of refugees was responsible.

Subsequently, the young men 'behaved improperly' according to Bernd Wieczorek, director of Netphener recreational pool. Among other things, they climbed and jumped from a locked tower adjacent to the pool. 'They were rude, loud and disrespectful,' according to Wieczorek. The situation escalated, [a female witness] continued, when 'the refugees repeatedly fondled their genitals and ran after female guests.' The sexual excitement of the young men was clearly visible.

You may have to pump yourself full of Zyrtec just to step outside during allergy season because your ancestors couldn’t keep their hands off those sexy Neanderthals, suggests two new studies in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Neanderthals and a second now-extinct hominid—Denisovans—were living in Europe and Asia for hundreds of thousands of years before humans arrived and were likely well-adapted to the local pathogens, according to a press release. When humans showed up and started interbreeding, they took on some of the Neanderthal and Denisovan genes. One of the studies reports three genes having to do with ‘innate immunity’ in modern humans show more similarities to Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes than the rest.

Innate immunity is the body's first response to pathogens and other foreign substances, NPR reports. The three genes from Neanderthals and Denisovans "are key components of innate immunity and provide an important first line of immune defense against bacteria, fungi, and parasites," according to the second study. But there's a "trade-off," as researcher Janet Kelso puts it. "I suppose that some of us can blame Neanderthals for our susceptibility to common allergies, like hay fever," she tells NPR. That's because these genes that helped ancient humans ward off disease in a new world can cause the body to overreact to minor foreign substances, such as pollen, according to the press release.

Moe Lane writing for Red State describes Nikki Haley's post SOTU speech as focusing mostly on Trump for being the nearest concern to GOP and much less so on Obama who is less a concern to them presently. It's a good observation for people who listened to it. He lists three bullet points within Haley's speech signaling to Trump that after Iowa and New Hampshire come South Carolina and Haley has no intention of making it easy for him there.The bullet points Moe Lane pulls seem easily walked over. They seem innocuous, mere signals.

“Today, we live in a time of threats like few others in recent memory. During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation.”

“In many parts of society today, whether in popular culture, academia, the media, or politics, there’s a tendency to falsely equate noise with results.”

“Some people think that you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. That is just not true. Often, the best thing we can do is turn down the volume. When the sound is quieter, you can actually hear what someone else is saying. And that can make a world of difference.”

Response to Moe Lane's response to Nickki Haley's response to SOTU, the ostensible point of discussion.1) It's not "a time of threats" nor "anxious time" that are tempting the clarion call, not siren call, rather, it's abject absence of representation. Misidentified problem there, misidentified characterization of the call. And it's not the angriest voices either, it's regular voices and even tempered voices. And no, there is no good reason to avoid the temptation of something better than your party that's become useless in checking the crazy. Acknowledging some party responsibility elsewhere in the speech doesn't cut it.

2) Agreed, falsely equating noise with results in all those areas listed is exactly why your party is deemed useless and all those areas listed no longer trusted.

3) Is Trump loud? It's not the loudest voice, rather the clearest and most sensible messaging that addresses directly the areas of neglected concern. Trump is hardly "loudest" it just seems that way to the party candidates drowned out by not addressing areas of concern and talking about other things instead. And often the best thing to do is not turn down the volume but hit mute instead or turn the channel or shut the noise off as when the Republican party is b.s.ing again. We haveheard what both parties are saying and reject it. Stop telling people to listen to people who don't listen and then process incorrectly and communicate nonsense like your party, and like these elements within your speech. I understand Nikki Haley gave a good speech. Loyal Republicans liked it. Their analysis has a lot to do with her being a fine new image for Republican party sorely in need a change in image. Always image.

"The evidence suggests that they unintentionally entered the Iranian waters because of the failure of their navigational system," IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif said.

So on Wednesday afternoon, the sailors traveled on their two boats to a rendezvous point in the Persian Gulf, a U.S. official said. They were escorted by Iranian boats, which turned back when they reached the rendezvous point in international waters.

The sailors then boarded the guided missile cruiser USS Anzio, where they were undergoing medical checks Wednesday.

"There are no indications that the Sailors were harmed during their brief detention," the U.S. Navy said in a statement.

It's not pride in not knowing, it's pride in not watching. A lot of people are 100 X smarter about politics, so here is my Twitter feed on the subject. They want their observation broadcast, they used the tag #SOTU.

The David Bowie tributes made me realize how much more important his music is than I had previously imagined. I did not know how engrained so much of his music is that failed to cross my consciousness, and a long time went by. My own i-Pod has songs on it that were there when I bought it, songs from an album named Low. There's also Changes, Hunky Dory, Let's Dance, twenty-one songs that I didn't load.

The Brits put up things that I didn't see the usual places. The Young Ones quoting, "Ashes to ashes, funk to funky, we know Major Tom's a junkie." I never heard of that before. Flight of the Concords, Bowie in Space, making references that I haven't heard before. Bowie, Kenny Evert Boys Keep Swinging, that for some reason The Brits enjoyed but not pointed to here. TheSundaeLunch's own tribute.

The best of all is Bowie with Geravis.

This got me right to my heart. I pick friends because they're like this. Not this good, and not this evil, of course, not this talented, but this silly and this impulsive.

And I keep being surprised. Deeply surprised, like how could I be such an idiot by not knowing of this talent this whole time? Recently at John's funeral reception by the open door to an expansive terrace overlooking a park, a very old man, a tall creaky wrinkled, dry, crispy old man with long teeth with spaces between them and a bit yellow, and callow spotted skull who I've seen hanging around for decades and know simply as Bob and I have no idea of a last name, I have no idea his connection, I don't know him at all, where he comes from, who he is, but I've seen him repeatedly at different parties and functions, he sticks out by his age and his height and his looming presence and goofy face, spoke only very briefly, and I had no idea whatsoever the old man can bang out songs like that, and do that at a funeral. He set the musical tone for the whole place and he decided we are having fun. As if all those previous parties and finally a decent piano.

Others elsewhere tap on the table while waiting for dinner at a restaurant, without any alcohol nor any pot or anything just a willingness to be silly and unafraid of being told to shut up, establish a rhythm and melody and flesh out a made up song on the spot. Silly things like singing "Whip It" with made up emetic lyrics on the spinning teacup ride, and then the female companion, friend of a friend, is reminding of that at every subsequent encounter for the rest of your life. They sing in the van or the taxi to the radio and by being silly encourage everyone else to join in, they put on their voices and have as much fun as they can contrive and IF they can be kept off politics, and IF nobody is harmed as Gervais is here, then honestly spontaneous creative fun doesn't get better than this.

Traditionally, candidates who have attracted strong evangelical support have in part emphasized the need to lend a helping hand to the economically stressed and the least fortunate among us. Such candidates include George W. Bush, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum.

But Cruz’s speeches are marked by what you might call pagan brutalism. There is not a hint of compassion, gentleness and mercy. Instead, his speeches are marked by a long list of enemies, and vows to crush, shred, destroy, bomb them. When he is speaking in a church the contrast between the setting and the emotional tone he sets is jarring.

Cruz lays down an atmosphere of apocalyptic fear. America is heading off “the cliff to oblivion.” After one Democratic debate he said, “We’re seeing our freedoms taken away every day, and last night was an audition for who would wear the jackboot most vigorously.”

The fact is this apocalyptic diagnosis is ridiculous. The Obama administration has done things people like me strongly disagree with. But America is in better economic shape than any other major nation on earth. Crime is down. Abortion rates are down. Fourteen million new jobs have been created in five years.

Obama has championed a liberal agenda, but he hasn’t made the country unrecognizable. In 2008, federal spending accounted for about 20.3 percent of gross domestic product. In 2015, it accounted for about 20.9 percent.

But Cruz manufactures an atmosphere of menace in which there is no room for compassion, for moderation, for anything but dismantling and counterattack. And that is what he offers. Cruz’s programmatic agenda, to the extent that it exists in his speeches, is to destroy things: destroy the I.R.S., crush the “jackals” of the E.P.A., end funding for Planned Parenthood, reverse Obama’s executive orders, make the desert glow in Syria, destroy the Iran nuclear accord.

Some of these positions I agree with, but the lack of any positive emphasis, any hint of reform conservatism, any aid for the working class, or even any humane gesture toward cooperation is striking.

Using nanotechnology, they've built a structure that surrounds the filament of the bulb and captures the leaking infrared radiation, reflecting it back to the filament where it is re-absorbed and then re-emitted as visible light.

The structure is made from thin layers of a type of light-controlling crystal. A key aspect though is the way that these layers are stacked, with visible wavelengths allowed to pass through while infrared get reflected back to the filament as if in a mirror.

"It is not so much the material you make the surrounding structure from, it is how you arrange the material to create the optical filtering property that will recycle infra red light and let the visible light through," Ognjen Illic, the paper's lead author told BBC News.

In theory, the crystal structures could boost the efficiency of incandescent bulbs to 40%, making them three times more efficient than the best LED or CFL bulbs on the market.

So do the researchers think that they can build a better lightbulb?

"I would not exclude the possibility," said Prof Marin Soljacic, another author on the paper.

"Thomas Edison was not the first one to work on the design of the lightbulb, but what he did was figure out how to mass produce it cheaply and keep it stable longer than 10 hours, these are still the the two critical criteria. These are the questions we are trying to answer now," he said.

The scientists point out that improving lightbulbs is but one of the options that could spring from this development. The authors say it could have "dramatic implications" for the performance of other energy conversion technologies.

In its tone and questioning, the argument resembled more of a congressional hearing at which Republicans took one position, Democrats argued the opposite, and there appeared little chance to sway either side....

The court’s conservative majority, which has long voiced skepticism about mandatory union fees, questioned whether such a distinction was relevant.

“Everything that is collectively bargaining is within the political sphere,” Justice Antonin Scalia said.

So the key question, according to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., is “whether or not individuals can be compelled to support political views that they disagree with.”

Meanwhile, the four Democratic appointees, playing defense, said the court should not upset the 1977 ruling.

California and 22 other mostly “blue” states have union-friendly laws requiring fair-share fees. If the court were to declare them unconstitutional, it would upset “tens of thousands” of contracts, said Justice Elena Kagan, and affect as many 10 million public employees.

Public-sector unions will take a financial hit if the court strikes down the fair-share fees, also known as agency fees. Some public employees might opt to stop paying dues entirely, confident that they will nevertheless receive the benefits of the union’s collective bargaining.

But it is unclear how badly unions will be hurt. The chief justice said he doubted unions were “going to collapse.”

Monday, January 11, 2016

Fox News: This new investigative track is in addition to the focus on classified material found on Clinton’s personal server.

"The agents are investigating the possible intersection of Clinton Foundation donations, the dispensation of State Department contracts and whether regular processes were followed," one source said...

Fox News is told that about 100 special agents assigned to the investigations also were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, with as many as 50 additional agents on “temporary duty assignment,” or TDY. The request to sign a new NDA could reflect that agents are handling the highly classified material in the emails, or serve as a reminder not to leak about the case, or both.

"The pressure on the lead agents is brutal," a second source said. "Think of it like a military operation, you might need tanks called in along with infantry."

What a stunningly beautiful place to go over a cliff. Dashcams are great. After it crashes, that's it, end of dashcam yet the story continues. You have to wonder how it switches from reporting inside the car to reporting outside the car, does the driver take the cam with him or switch to his phone, or what?

The YouTube description is a lengthy and detailed explanation and precaution. The driver says he was grooving on the sound of his engine inside the tunnels. Surrounded by breathtaking beauty his gearhead prevailed.

Comments at YouTube begin with God warning people not to do this.

Was that scary? That's both my brothers, but don't tell my dad. Both of them pulled this crap all the time before they were married. They love cars. The driver liked sound, and he's not so impressive a driver as this Orangebuzz crashing out his Ford Escort in style. Very good driving until that bit at the end.

Pickering described the effort as a potential “game changer in the region,” recommending that the United States undertake a clandestine campaign to generate unrest. Clinton requested that his email be printed.

“What will change the situation is a major effort to use non-violent protests and demonstrations to put peace back in the center of people’s aspirations as well as their thoughts, and use that to influence the political leadership,” Pickering wrote.

“This is far from a sure thing, but far, in my humble view, from hopeless,” he continued. “Women can and ought to be at the center of these demonstrations. Many men and others will denigrate the idea. I don’t and I don’t think that was your message.”

Palestinian women, he noted, are less likely than men to resort to violence.

“It must be all and only women. Why? On the Palestinian side the male culture is to use force,” Pickering wrote, comparing the effort to the protests in Egypt that deposed former leader Hosni Mubarak. “Palestinian men will not for long patiently demonstrate — they will be inclined over time and much too soon to be frustrated and use force. Their male culture comes close to requiring it.”

While officers raced to a recent 911 call about a man threatening his ex-girlfriend, a police operator in headquarters consulted software that scored the suspect’s potential for violence the way a bank might run a credit report.

The program scoured billions of data points, including arrest reports, property records, commercial databases, deep Web searches and the man’s social- media postings. It calculated his threat level as the highest of three color-coded scores: a bright red warning.

The man had a firearm conviction and gang associations, so out of caution police called a negotiator. The suspect surrendered, and police said the intelligence helped them make the right call — it turned out he had a gun.

As a national debate has played out over mass surveillance by the National Security Agency, a new generation of technology such as the Beware software being used in Fresno has given local law enforcement officers unprecedented power to peer into the lives of citizens. (read more)

To think that Bowie was only 22 years old when this was released is mind-blowing. In a five-minute turn, Bowie manages to tell a story that can easily serve as the plot to a two-hour sci-fi film. The song was revolutionary for its time, musically and lyrically, and helped introduce the masses to one of the most dynamic and creative music acts we will ever know.

Okay, I admit that is good but my choice would be "Changes" or "Young American" or "Modern Love."

Some sunsets are not so interesting but there is usually at least one frame in the lot that seems pretty good when compared to the rest.

The colors are samples from the original without resizing shifted over a smaller window.

The pictures are shot in RAW, the white balance is off by quite a lot. The eyedropper tool in Photoshop for white balance is used to sample something in one of the photos known to be white like snow or a sign, a cloud or a highlight. The tool produces the most remarkable change instantly every pixel adjusted at once. Every pixel in every photo adjusted just like that no matter how many photos.

This is what the capture looks like in original RAW (displayed here in JPG form by necessity) before fiddling with Photoshop adjustment sliders; exposure, mid tones, black and white, lens correction, de-vignetting, lens distortion and the rest.

The time lapse is short and not interesting. It shows only gradient change with a band of orange and descending darkness. (Flickr for improved display)

Everything in the world is in New York City. And you challenge, "Everything?" And I go, "Yes, pretty much, even Cleopatra's needle." Nailed it. You can see how the city can cast its spell completely.

Comments on another site that linked the video are all positive, and that from a group that can be described in a word: cynical. They brag about all the walking they've done and how well they've known cities that way.

Jayme Metzgar writes at The Federalist of the shameful irony of Obama demanding gun control at George Mason University.

I've become very edity-y and intolerant lately and tend to drop things at the first adjective I don't like, anything that offends me. I nearly dropped this right off at the beginning and I'm glad that I didn't.

George Mason, born in Fairfax County, Virginia, was the most influential Founding Father you’ve never heard of.

I didn't like that. Touchy, I know. I didn't expect anything interesting after that. Had I dropped it, I'd miss the part about Mason refusing to sign the Declaration of Independence because it didn't have the elements of the Bill of Rights. I did not know that.

And I would have have missed the comment to the article: A visit to George Mason's home, Gunston Hall, is definitely worth it.

The first few go to gunstonhall.org, they can use some help with their website. By their website there is not much going on. It does not look interesting. Still, sparse as it is, there is a puzzle for children and children's books with titles like "No, I won't sign it!" Meaning children visitors would know what has taken this long for me.

Odd to say it, this is the most useful of the links. The whole place opened up with these reviews. The place gets five stars. Visitors are stoked about what they encountered. The activities available especially for children are excellent. A true hidden treasure is how they describe it. An inexpensive entry fee gets quite a lot of return for children. Hands-on museum. An associated airport museum that has their attention. They get to wear costumes of the era and climb all over. The reviews are surprising to read. They describe the place better than anything. A few sampling:

Wait, nothing is matching.

Hang on.

That's it for Gunston Hall. End of post. Goodbye.

What a bummer. The actual reviews for Gunston Hall are not that great. The place sounds like a drag and the photos show it's a drag. The people who rate it highly like it for odd things, fancy wallpaper for example, and boxwood and replicated buildings around a genuine well. And slave quarters most likely understated.

No, the reviews on Yelp are mixed with their internal advertisement. I clicked on a review inserted "Craving an adventure? Explore today's events!" I did not realize that would take me off Gunston Hall and onto the College Park Aviation Museum since it's right there at top of results.

Go to the Aviation Museum instead, if you're museum cruising. It's a lot more fun than creaky old Gunston Hall that disallows interior photographs. Compare the Aviation Museum that invites them, the whole attitude is different.

* We rented the mezzanine but they allowed us (our guests AND their kids!) access to the ENTIRE museum! Everyone loved all the hands on exhibits. The staff was absolutely wonderful and accomodating and I could not have been happier.

* A delightful, historic museum to spend a morning or afternoon with the kids, or even an adult airplane buff.

You can fly a simulator plane, or try to. Neither my husband or granddaughter ever got the plane off the ground. Great photo ops with the helmets, goggles and other pilot costume items.

* Inside the museum are several actual airplane, including one that you can get inside of.

* This is Not a do not touch museum. While the displays are not huge it is just right for kids 3-8 years old. The airport holds lots of special events through out the year.

* We had my son's 5th birthday party here - it was excellent. I booked it sight unseen and hoped for the best. We were not disappointed. All of the kids hated to leave.

The survey by Washington-based Mercury Analytics is a combination online questionnaire and "dial-test" of Trump's first big campaign ad among 916 self-proclaimed "likely voters" (this video shows the ad and the dial test results). It took place primarily Wednesday and Thursday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

Nearly 20 percent of likely Democratic voters say they'd cross sides and vote for Trump, while a small number, or 14 percent, of Republicans claim they'd vote for Clinton. When those groups were further broken down, a far higher percentage of the crossover Democrats contend they are "100 percent sure" of switching than the Republicans.

When the firmed showed respondents the Trump ad, and assessed their responses to each moment of it, it found "the primary messages of Trump's ad resonated more than Democratic elites would hope."

About 25 percent of Democrats "agree completely" that it raises some good point, with an additional 19 percent agreeing at least "somewhat."

Frankly, polls are boring man (woman) made news. Worse, made up news. Yes, Trump appeals to democrats. Everybody knows that. The question is, are they ready to throw Hillary under the bus a second time in November, when it counts? Assuming Trump will be the GOP nominee. And that, right there, is the biggest assumption of all.